Oprah's Audience Members Begin Their Trip To Australia

Oprah Winfrey’s lucky audience of 300 people arrived in Australia from the U.S. on Tuesday to begin enjoying Oprah’s biggest fan giveaway yet with an eight-day journey across the land Down Under.

As recently reported, for the final season of her talk show “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” Oprah surprised and shocked her fans with what she calls her trip of a lifetime. The hand-picked audience was made up of some of who the program called its most loyal viewers over the years.

Australia, which is forking out more than $4 million for the trip between the federal and state governments, says that’s a small price to pay for the many millions of dollars of tourism advertising the show will bring.

The audience, which ranges in age from 18 to 75, will be split into different groups and sent to various sites around the country. Ferguson confirmed on Tuesday that they will be visiting each of Australia’s eight states and territories, which includes the island state of Tasmania.

“I would have never thought little bitty ol’ me would ever have this opportunity,” Orlando Bogins of Detroit said as he arrived at Sydney’s airport. “It came at such a very hard time in my life — my mom had nine hours (of) surgery, I was laid off from my job and my house had been broken into. So we had all of that happen, and then I got notification that I was selected to go on the Oprah show.”